BINDURA – Rescue teams have managed to retrieve two bodies from a collapsed shaft at Ran Mine in Bindura, Mashonaland Central while five more artisanal miners are still trapped underground, police have said.
Ran Mine, located in the Gwiringwindi area, closed in 2010.
However, artisanal miners have remained behind to mine for residual gold.
Police weekend said the incident took place Thursday last week at around 4pm.
In an update Monday, police confirmed the death of two miners whose bodies were retrieved from the scene.
“Update on the trapping incident at Ran Mine, Bindura. On 24 June 2023, two bodies of the trapped artisanal miners were retrieved.
“It is being suspected that five other artisanal miners remain trapped in the mine,” police said.
Speaking to ZimLive, Mashonaland Central Zimbabwe Miners Federation chairperson Christina Munyoro said Ran Mine was not new to accidents that have robbed a lot of people of their lives.
“It is indeed an unfortunate incident; it is the same shaft that collapsed last time, and rescue teams despite putting all their efforts are struggling to get inside.
“It’s still not clear the number of miners trapped inside but we hear there are 4-6 casualties,” she said.
In 2020, around 40 artisanal miners were trapped at the mine when a shaft collapsed while last year, two more were also killed after another shaft collapsed.
Zimbabwe’s recurrent economic challenges have birthed massive unemployment in what has pushed a section of the population into performing often dangerous activities such as artisanal mining at a great personal risk.
